In our realm, being that of establishing a health habit, for example, “high risk” situations come up all the time. They masquerade as “excuses” and “obstacles” that keep us from keeping our promises to ourselves to exercise everyday.

Here are a few tools that might help you when facing “high risk” situations:

1. Remember a time you overcame an obstacle (big or small). Recall how great it felt. Douse your mind with those happy feelings. Use those happy feels to help you seek MORE happy feelings. Head towards the door, put your shoes on, walk out the front door with a blissful demeanor!

2. Think of a day when you felt close to not following through on your commitment to do your daily exercise. What caused you to consider not going? What tipped you towards going anyways? Were you glad you finally went out? How did you feel if you didn’t go out? What could you “learn”?

3. Write down 3 high-risk situations.  Then, beside each of them, list three things you could SAY to yourself that could help you withstand the urge to  break your new habit. List three things you could DO to keep you from not following through on your commitment. Lastly, come up with an image you could think of our look at that would inspire you to hold your path of resistance. Click on the next link to download a copy of a worksheet you could use for Dealing with High Risk Situations created by our very own Squamish addictions counsellor Jeff Thompson.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that I have a hard time exercising in the evening after work. I find the couch too comfortable, my favorite shows are on or maybe it’s family time (and I’d have to give up to exercise at this time). Obviously, morning exercise would do the trick for me but I’m a bit resistant to giving up my sleep and my cozy bed. The alarm clock goes off and I “SHOULD” get up.

3 things I could SAY to myself to get out the door for my 30 minutes of walking are…”Sue, if you do it now, it’s done for the day, I know you’re tired but remember how energized you get after exercise?” OR “Sue, Grey’s Anatomy is on tonight and since you LOVE that show and it’s a new episode, you won’t want to exercise during the show. Get up now so you can enjoy your show tonight” OR “Sue, you’ve got to log something in that Fitness Journal. The whole day is jam-packed. Got on with it NOW”.

3 things I could DO to get myself exercising in the morning. Walk to my favorite coffee shop for a morning cup of joe. That gets me moving because I love the smells, the flavors and the warmth. Put a really good audio book on my iPod- that gets me walking for hours actually! Pick up Sammy’s leash and watch her wiggle with excitement, that naturally gets me going!

What image could I use to motivate myself? Well a photo of Sammy comes to mind!

Not so hard to do, is it. Writing it down lets you see that you’ve got strategies, you ARE resourceful. You are practically your own coach or “cheerleading squad”. This “high risk” management exercise can be applied to many facets of life- I’m thinking it could help me tackle some procrastination habits I’ve got…

Good luck and keep up the great work everyone!

Sue Shalanski

You have an awesome power that most of us have never been taught to use effectively.

Elite athletes use it. The super rich use it. And peak performers in all fields now use it. That power is called visualization.

The daily practice of visualizing your dreams as already complete can rapidly accelerate your achievement of those dreams, goals and ambitions.

Visualization of your goals and desires accomplishes four very important things.

1.) It activates your creative subconscious which will start generating creative ideas to achieve your goal.

2.) It programs your brain to more readily perceive and recognize the resources you will need to achieve your dreams.

3.) It activates the law of attraction, thereby drawing into your life the people, resources, and circumstances you will need to achieve your goals.

4.) It builds your internal motivation to take the necessary actions to achieve your dreams.

Visualization is really quite simple. You sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and imagine — in as vivid detail as you can — what you would be looking at if the dream you have were already realized. Imagine being inside of yourself, looking out through your eyes at the ideal result.

Mental Rehearsal

Athletes call this visualization process “mental rehearsal,” and they have been using it since the 1960s when we learned about it from the Russians.

All you have to do is set aside a few minutes a day. The best times are when you first wake up, after meditation or prayer, and right before you go to bed. These are the times you are most relaxed.

Go through the following three steps:

STEP 1. Imagine sitting in a movie theater, the lights dim, and then the movie starts. It is a movie of you doing perfectly whatever it is that you want to do better. See as much detail as you can create, including your clothing, the expression on your face, small body movements, the environment and any other people that might be around. Add in any sounds you would be hearing — traffic, music, other people talking, cheering. And finally, recreate in your body any feelings you think you would be experiencing as you engage in this activity.

STEP 2. Get out of your chair, walk up to the screen, open a door in the screen and enter into the movie. Now experience the whole thing again from inside of yourself, looking out through your eyes. This is called an “embodied image” rather than a “distant image.” It will deepen the impact of the experience. Again, see everything in vivid detail, hear the sounds you would hear, and feel the feelings you would feel.

STEP 3. Finally, walk back out of the screen that is still showing the picture of you performing perfectly, return to your seat in the theater, reach out and grab the screen and shrink it down to the size of a cracker. Then, bring this miniature screen up to your mouth, chew it up and swallow it. Imagine that each tiny piece — just like a hologram — contains the full picture of you performing well. Imagine all these little screens traveling down into your stomach and out through the bloodstream into every cell of your body. Then imagine that every cell of your body is lit up with a movie of you performing perfectly. It’s like one of those appliance store windows where 50 televisions are all tuned to the same channel.

When you have finished this process — it should take less than five minutes — you can open your eyes and go about your business. If you make this part of your daily routine, you will be amazed at how much improvement you will see in your life. 

Create Goal Pictures

Another powerful technique is to create a photograph or picture of yourself with your goal, as if it were already completed. If one of your goals is to own a new car, take your camera down to your local auto dealer and have a picture taken of yourself sitting behind the wheel of your dream car. If your goal is to visit Paris, find a picture or poster of the Eiffel Tower and cut out a picture of yourself and place it into the picture.

With today’s technology, you can make even more convincing images using your computer. I personally use our Dream Big Vision Board Screen Saver Software, click through to see my own personal vision board in action.

Create a Visual Picture and an Affirmation for Each Goal

We recommend that you find or create a picture of every aspect of your dream life. Create a picture or a visual representation for every goal you have — financial, career, recreation, new skills and abilities, things you want to purchase, and so on.

When we were writing the very first Chicken Soup for the Soul® book, we took a copy of the New York Times best seller list, scanned it into our computer, and using the same font as the newspaper, typed Chicken Soup for the Soul into the number one position in the “Paperback Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous” category. We printed several copies and hung them up around the office. Less than two years later, our book was the number one book in that category and stayed there for over a year!

Index Cards

We practice a similar discipline every day. We each have a list of about 30-40 goals we are currently working on. We write each goal on a 3×5 index card and keep those cards near our bed and take them with us when we travel. Each morning and each night we go through the stack of cards, one at a time, read the card, close our eyes, see the completion of that goal in its perfect desired state for about 15 seconds, open our eyes and repeat the process with the next card.

Use Affirmations to Support Your Visualization

An affirmation is a statement that evokes not only a picture, but the experience of already having what you want. Here’s an example of an affirmation:

I am happily vacationing 2 months out of the year in a tropical paradise, and working just four days a week owning my own business.

Repeating an affirmation several times a day keeps you focused on your goal, strengthens your motivation, and programs your subconscious by sending an order to your crew to do whatever it takes to make that goal happen. 

Expect Results 

Through writing down your goals, using the power of visualization and repeating your affirmations, you can achieve amazing results.

Visualization and affirmations allow you to change your beliefs, assumptions, andopinions about the most important person in your life — YOU! They allow you to harness the 18 billion brain cells in your brain and get them all working in a singular and purposeful direction.

Your subconscious will become engaged in a process that transforms you forever. The process is invisible and doesn’t take a long time. It just happens over time, as long as you put in the time to visualize and affirm, surround yourself with positive people, read uplifting books and listen to audio programs that flood your mind with positive, life-affirming messages.

If you would like a step-by-step, comprehensive approach for defining your goals, creating affirmations for them and how to create a powerful visual support system, take a look at ourDream Big Collection… it contains a everything you need–just add your dreams!

Repeat your affirmations every morning and night for a month and they will become an automatic part of your thinking… woven into the very fabric of your being.

 Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

How to Motivate Yourself to Exercise: It’s All in the Presentation

After the initial excitement of a new commitment wears off, it’s all too easy to slip into old, comfortable patterns. A secret to staying motivated is to stay connected to the positive benefits of your goal. Sometimes getting out for your workout can seem like a chore…but if you describe the activity by its results…you are far more likely to sustain your valuable new habit.

Which is more energizing…. “I am going for a walk/run/ride/workout because I have to”….or “I am creating more joy in my life through movement” ? It’s all in how you frame it.

You made the choice to commit to yourself, and the choice came from a positive intention. What was that intention again?

After deciding on what you would love to get out of exercising daily, find a way to describe your daily commitment in a way that reminds you of what you are getting out of it:  i.e. “I am off to go get my energy fix”…. “I am getting my upper body ready for the best biking season ever!” …”I am just heading out to make sure I look hot in my favorite dress next month”

You are in charge. Instead of taking about what you ‘have’ to do….talk -about what you are choosing to take charge of in your life.

Lara Williams is a Vancouver-based Life and Productivity Coach and Motivational Speaker for

get on with it Coaching.  www.getonwithit.ca